Hur påverkar ägarstrukturen bolagets prestation i en svensk kontext? : Är svensk bolagsstyrning värd att försvara i en globaliserad värld? 

Sammanfattning: Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, 4FE17E, 2017 Authors: Anders Maase and Niklas Möllmark Supervisor: Anna Stafsudd Second supervisor: Håkan Locking Examiner: Karin Jonnergård Title: How does the ownership structure affect the firm’s performance in a Swedish context? Background: Ownership structure has been a hot topic ever since the first firms were founded and has since been affected by law, globalization and internationalization. Sweden has previously been characterized by a high ownership concentration as a result from ‘The Swedish Model’ but today there are international pressures that instead propagate a spread type of ownership. The views differ if Sweden is to continue advocating the concentrated ownership structure or shifting towards the Anglo-American corporate governance model. Purpose: To explain if and how ownership structure affects the performance of Swedish listed firms. Method: The study has a deductive research approach and the underlying theory is based on agency theory. The quantitative research method relies on ownership, board and financial data from 2011, 2012 and 2013. Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between ownership concentration and the firm’s performance, but between ownership structure there is significant evidence that foreign and institutional ownership affects the company's performance. Thus, it is possible that Sweden moves towards an Anglo-American type of corporate governance.